Anticipation
by Rachael
Summary: The fact that Joey might be pregnant is causing quite a stir in Capeside...
1. Anticipation

Anticipation

**Anticipation**

Joey bit her lip and looked across the bed. Finally, she thought, he was asleep. Slowly, she pulled herself up and began to crawl down the edge of the bed. Before she could get more than a foot, Pacey's warm hands grabbed her bare waist and she was pulled back down. "Now Jo, you aren't gonna get out this easy." He said to her. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Pacey, I really need to go home. I promised that I would babysit Alexander from 10 to midnight so Bessie and Bodie could go see a movie." Joey whined. Pacey sat up and Joey watched the muscles in his stomach contract. He saw her.

"See, you can't resist me." He said, smiling. She sighed again.

"That's beside the point Pace, I really have to go. You know that if I could stay, I would." She told him apologetically.

"Fine." He told her. "Then I'll help you babysit. Pacey smiled at her and she nodded. Seeing the look of concern on her face, he added. "Don't worry, this time I want to get the little guy into bed." He laughed.

"Pacey, no!" She told him harshly. "You can help me out, but nothing more. See, unlike at your house, we have guests. Guests who are paying good money to have a night of peace and quiet. Understand?" Pacey frowned but nodded his head anyway. "Good." She said softly, pulling on one of Pacey's old t-shirts. 

  
  
  
  


"Okay. We have to run, but put him to bed soon and don't forget to give him a bottle right after I leave. Then he needs to be changed before bed and give him a pacifier too." Bessie rambled out instructions for Joey and Pacey. They nodded simultaneously. "Oh and one more thing, please behave as adults. No pillow fights, no parties, no long distance phone calls. No making of loud noises, even unintentional ones. Got it?" They nodded again.

"Bess, don't worry. I know how to take care of Alexander, and Pacey and I will be fine. Right Pace?" Joey said. She looked over to Pacey who had begun to play with Alexander.

"Yeah, okay." He said. Bessie nodded in satisfaction, grabbed her purse and ran out the door. "Well, now what?" Pacey asked. He held Alexander in his hands. Joey wasn't listening. She was too busy watching Pacey with Alexander. She had never known that he was good with kids. "Jo?"

"What, yeah, good." Joey spat out. Pacey laughed. 

"What?" He asked her. Her gaze was glossy. She was amazed by how well he was handling Alexander.

"Nothing, it's just..." She paused. "I didn't know that you were good with kids. She smiled at him, still admiring the way he held Alexander. Pacey smiled at her.

"Yeah sure, I love kids." He told her. "I tried to tell you that last time I helped you out, but you didn't listen." Joey glared at him.

"You were letting him bang pots and pans!" She yelled. He shrugged. Just then, a guest entered the Potter's kitchen.

"I'm sorry," She said. "I was just wondering if it would be possible to stay an extra night here." The woman said.

Joey nodded. "Sure." She said. The woman looked at them long and hard. "What?" Joey asked.

"How old are you dear?" The woman asked.

"18." Pacey and Joey responded. The woman gasped and shook her head.

"If you ask my opinion, I'll say that you're a little young to have children. Did you just adopt him?" She asked them.

Pacey and Joey laughed. "I'm sorry." Pacey said, "But this isn't our son. We're just babysitting for Joey's sister." 

The woman sighed. "That's a good thing. Although you do handle him very nicely." She said to Pacey. He smiled at her and then at Joey.

"Thanks." He said. The woman nodded and walked back out of the kitchen. "I can't believe she thought that he was our son. Imagine, you having a kid at this age." He laughed. However, Joey wasn't so amused. She clutched her stomach, suddenly becoming very pale. "Jo, it was just a joke. What's wrong?" 

"Pace, I have to tell you something." She whispered. "I'm late." He looked confused, so she tried again. "Late for my period." She told him. He bit his lip.

"You aren't pregnant are you?" He asked her. She shrugged. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

"I don't know." She cried. "I'm just really scared right now." Tears were pouring down her face. Pacey embraced her. She put her face against his chest and cried. Although she couldn't see his face, Joey knew that Pacey was scared too. His body was shaking and his face and hands were getting colder by the minute. He didn't know what he would do. He wasn't ready for this. Pacey's mind was cluttered with thoughts. He didn't know what to do, and the whole time Joey cried in his arms, he didn't express one feeling.

Joey was concerned mostly because Pacey couldn't admit that he was scared too. Joey knew that he was. She could just tell. His hands felt cold on her back and his body was shaking. Her's was too. It had been since she had realized what was happening to her. She couldn't have a baby now. How could she go to Worthington? What would Dawson and Gretchen say? Mostly, what would Bessie say? Joey began to cry even harder as all of these questions arose in her mind.

  
  


Meanwhile, Dawson and Gretchen sat in Dawson's room playing scrabble. Gretchen smiled and spelled out the word zoog. Dawson looked at her as if to tell her she was an idiot. "Gretchen, zoog is not a word." He told her. 

"It is so. Don't you ever watch the Disney channel?" She asked him. He laughed at her and made a thumbs down sign. She rolled her eyes and picked up the letters. 

"Gretchen, you still had a word." He told her. She looked at the letters and smacked herself in the forehead, laying out the word 'zoo'. He nodded at her. Then he picked up his letters and made the word 'emblem'. Gretchen scoffed.

"You're too good at this." She said to him. He shrugged and waved her on. She looked at her letters and quickly spelled out 'sex'. Dawson stopped smiling and looked her straight in the eyes. 

"Dawson, it's just a game. Chill out." She told him. He sighed. She leaned across the board and kissed him. It was intended to be a quick 'calm down' kiss, but he kissed her back. Before either of them knew what they were doing, he was on top of her and the scrabble board was on the floor. He moved his mouth off of hers to get air and she began to talk. "I love you Dawson." She told him. He smiled and kissed her again. Neither of them noticed the door open and Dawson' s mom step in.

"Ahem!" She coughed. Dawson and Gretchen pulled away from each other, startled. "Gretchen, it's Pacey." She said holding out the phone. Gretchen wiped her mouth and stood up, grabbing the phone.

"Thanks, Gale." She said. Gale nodded and gave her son a quick look before exiting the room.

"Pacey?" Gretchen said into the phone. "What do you want?" She asked him. Dawson listened to Gretchen's side of the conversation, trying to pick something out of it. "Yeah... she what? Are you sure?... I always thought you were going to screw it up... No your right, it isn't all your fault... Same to you.... Why did you call me anyway. Uh huh.... Uh huh.... Okay, put her on..... Hey.... Yes I heard.... Okay, calm down.... No I don't know what it's like.... Yes, I did have the same problem.... Please calm down.... I know it's hard.... I'm busy now... Playing scrabble... sort of.... No I can't.... Dawson.... Can I?... Are you sure?.... Okay.... Calm down.... Bye. She hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

"What was that all about?" Dawson asked. Gretchen sighed. She didn't want to be the one to tell him. She looked directly in to his eyes.

"I wish I didn't have to tell you this." She said. Dawson looked at her. He didn't have a clue what was going on. "Look Dawson, Joey might be pregnant." She told him. He took in a sharp breath of air and looked down at the ground.

"How could this happen?" He asked. Gretchen could tell that he was trying not to cry. "I mean I would think that Joey would be the kind of person to be safe. She has such a future ahead of her." He choked out. Gretchen sat down next to him.

"I'm sure they were. These things happen." She told him. "There's nothing you can do to stop these things from happening. They just happen." She pulled his head down on to her lap. "Don't worry about it now Dawson, they don't even know for sure yet."

"Do you think that makes a difference?" He said crossly. She let go of his head and scooted away from him.

"I... I was just trying to help." She told him. He had never behaved like this before. She knew that he must be really upset.

"Well, you aren't. I need to be alone." He told her harshly. Tears coming down her cheeks, Gretchen got up and left the room. Leaving Dawson to cry alone.

  
  


Back at the B and B, it was almost midnight. Joey was still crying. Alexander had been safely tucked into bed by Pacey who was now comforting Joey on the couch. He sat still, stroking her long brown hair wondering what to do. The drug store had already closed, so Joey couldn't take a pregnancy test until morning. He hoped that it wasn't true, because in the time since he had heard the news, Pacey had realized more about his life than he ever had before. He still had a future. It may not have looked as bright as Joey's or Dawson's, but he had one. I'll never take the future for granted again he told himself.

Joey was thinking too. Her future was looking so good ever since Dawson had given her the money to go to Worthington. She didn't want to lose that for anything. Even something this big and important. She hoped that it wasn't true, that somehow her body was just wrong. She knew that it sounded stupid, but she hoped to god that it was true. She settled her head down into Pacey's lap, and for the first time in two hours, she stopped crying.

  
  


Gretchen wandered aimlessly towards Joey's house. She was still crying from her fight with Dawson. She couldn't believe that he'd blown up at her like that. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and stepped onto the Potter's front stoop.

When Pacey heard the knock on the door, he quietly moved Joey's head off of his lap and went to go open the door. "Gretchen." He said. "Nice of you to drop by." Gretchen rolled her eyes and pushed Pacey out of the way.

"I'm here for Joey, smart ass." She told him.

"I know that, god, ever heard of a joke?" 

"Pacey, no offense, but I don't think that this is the time to be making jokes." She walked by him and pulled a pregnancy test out of her purse. Pacey stared at her.

" Where did you get that? The drug store's already closed. Were you like anticipating this or something?" He asked her. 

"No. I already had it." She told him. "Just incase. Pacey looked confused. 

"So you ARE sleeping with Dawson." He said. She shook her head.

"No, I'm not, but even if I was it's none of your business. I got when I was still in college." She explained.

"Oh." He said. Gretchen continued walking towards Joey. She held the test out to her. Joey picked it up and sighed, burying her face in her hands. Slowly she stood up and headed for the bathroom.

An hour later, all three of them sat in the living room, trying not to look at one another. Joey glanced at her watch and stood up walking, once again, to the bathroom.

"It's positive." She said quietly.

  
  
  
  


**To Be Continued...**


	2. Conflict

Disclaimer: not mine, I don't own any of it. Although it would be cool if I

did own Josh Jackson, because then I would be able to... oh wait, this is a

PG fic, sorry!

  
  


Dedication: this is for Robyn, Linz, Kimmi, and Rachel, for listening to

me babble about one thing or another. Espescially Dawson's Creek. The

dedication is mostly to Robyn and Rachel though, cause they were there for

me the night of the prom episode...

  
  
  
  


Conflict

  
  
  
  
  
  


Pacey pushed his foot down harder on the gas pedal. He didn't know where he

was going, but he knew that he needed to get away. Deep down, Pacey knew that

running away wouldn't solve the enormous conflict facing Joey and himself, but he

hoped to at least calm himself down for a little bit.

Pulling into the parking lot of an old bar, Pacey wiped beads of sweat from his

forehead. He didn't want to think about his future right now, but trying to avoid it was

only making it worse. Once inside the bar, Pacey signaled for someone to bring him a

beer. A young blonde woman came over to him. She opened her mouth to ask for an

ID, but seeing the look of sorrow on his face, she decided to let it slide and placed the

drink on the table. 

Pacey drank silently for an hour or so. He couldn't have been sure of the exact

time. Finally, he stood up and sauntered to the door. The beer was beginning to affect

Pacey, and he began to swerve slightly off the road. After about 10 minutes, Pacey

heard a siren in the distance. Cops. Pulling over, Pacey glanced in his rear view

mirror to see no one other than Doug approaching his car.

"For god sakes Pacey, how many times do I have to pull you over before you

realize that you are doing something wrong?" Doug asked his little brother.

Pacey sat motionless in the car, waiting for Doug to speak again. "You know

what, I don't really care what's wrong with you tonight, because it's always something

with you Pacey." He told him. "Go home Pacey. Gretchen will be expecting you." And

with that, Doug picked up his cell phone and headed back to his car. Pacey drove off,

silent tears sliding down his cheeks.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Back at the Witter's beach house, Gretchen and Joey sat in silence waiting for

Pacey, though each knew that it could be a while before he returned. That's when the

phone rang. Gretchen picked it up and listened as Doug told her what had happened

to Pacey. Joey watched as Gretchen nodded, hung up the phone, and shaking her

head, walked back to Joey.

"Doug picked up Pacey on the highway. He was drunk. Doug sent him home,

he should be here any minute." Gretchen told Joey. Joey looked away. Anger surged

through her entire body. Just as she began to think of all the horrible things she could

say to Pacey, he walked through the door. Before he even had a chance to speak,

Joey blew up at him.

"Are you out of your mind?" She asked him. Pacey looked into her eyes and

saw nothing but rage.

"Joey, can we please just talk about this?" He asked her, rubbing his head.

"NO! We can't talk about this, you are just going to shut your mouth and listen

to me. I am having the worst damn day of my whole damn life and all you can do is go

and get drunk?!?" Tears filled her eyes as she screamed at him.

"God dammit Jo! Don't you think that I'm having a bad day too? I'm only 18

years old, I can't deal with something like this! Do you have any idea how scared I am

right now?" He shot back. Pacey looked back at Joey, and her eyes now showed

concern.

"You could have told me how you felt!" She cried, tears pouring down her

already red face. "Instead you had to go out and leave! How do you think that made

me feel? I just found out that I'm pregnant and my boyfriend runs off without a word! I

was terrified, terrified that you wouldn't come back.." 

"Wouldn't come back? Jo, I'll always come back for you. I just needed to get a grip on this whole thing. I wouldn't ever leave you. I love you." He spoke softly, pulling Joey into his arms.

"I'm sorry." She told him. "I just can't do it alone." She relaxed into his arms. He rocked her back and forth. 

"You don't have to do it alone." He whispered. "I'll be here for you. Forever. No matter what happens." Joey smiled. She couldn't believe that she had ever doubted that he would come back. She knew that he loved her as much as she loved him. In that moment, she felt perfect. In that moment, she forgot all of her worries and just concentrated on being loved. Forever.


	3. Reactions

Reactions

  
  
  
  
  
  


Dawson's throat felt dry. He found it hard to swallow without crying. Joey's words stung in his mind. He wanted to be supportive, but all he felt was anger. Dawson lifted his head up to face Joey, and when he did, Joey could see deep inside of him.

She knew that he was furious. The girl he loved had gotten pregnant by the boy who used to torment her. The boy who also happened to be Dawson's ex best friend. Joey searched his eyes for something else, but couldn't see anything. All he felt now for her was disappointment. That summed it up. He was disappointed. Disappointed that he didn't have Joey and disappointed by what Joey had. Silently, Joey stood up, knowing that there was nothing left to say, and walked to Dawson's doorway. As she left, Dawson mustered up any good feelings he felt inside and called after her. "Jo."

She turned to face him. "Good luck." He told her. Even though Joey knew that his luck came from pity, she still felt a little bit better about leaving Dawson alone afterwards. Walking outside, Joey spotted Pacey, who had been waiting for her. 

As Joey approached, Pacey knew that it hadn't gone well. Not wanting to ask questions that might hurt her, he instead pulled her into a hug. As his arms pulled her close, he could feel her beginning to tremble in his arms. Looking into her watery eyes, Pacey gave Joey a sympathetic smile. Pacey released his arms from around Joey and walked towards Jen's house as Joey laced her fingers through his.

Both Pacey and Joey went into Jen Lindley's house to tell her the news. Joey felt much less frightened at telling Jen than she had at telling Dawson. Jen sat down on a chair and Joey and Pacey sat on a couch facing her.

"So, what's up?" Jen asked them, pushing a lock of curly blond hair away from her eyes.

Pacey opened his mouth before Joey got the chance. "Joey's pregnant." He told Jen. His voice quavered slightly, unsure of what her reaction would be. She smiled to them, surprising both.

"Wow! That's quite a shocker! Are you going to keep the baby?" She asked Joey. Jen glanced into Joey's eyes waiting for her to ponder the question, but she didn't have to.

"Yes." She said solemnly. Joey couldn't imagine giving up a baby. She knew that she had the right to, and that it would make her future easier, but it wouldn't make her life easier. Joey knew that if she gave up the baby, she would remember it for all her life, and she didn't want to regret it. Although she was aware that there was a possibility that she would regret _having_ it. Joey looked up at Pacey, she didn't know what he thought her answer would be. He looked back into her eyes and pulled her closer to him.

"Wow! That's amazing you guys!" Jen said, her smile bright. "You know if you ever need any help, you can come to me! I'd be glad to help out with the baby or whatever." Jen said. Pacey couldn't help but smile. Jen was being so helpful, he knew that Jen was cheering Joey up a lot. He glanced over to see the smile on Joey's face. 

"Thanks Jen, you're such a help!" Pacey told her. Jen's smile grew wider. 

"Well, anything I can do to help." Jen said again. "So, how did Dawson take it?" She asked. Joey's face sank again as she remembered the look on Dawson's face.

"Not well at all!" Joey told her. "He just looked so angry, I didn't know what to say to him." Jen nodded.

"I'm sure that he'll get over it. He's probably just in shock. It's not every day that you get news like this! I have to tell Jack!" Jen added. Waiting for Joey's approval, Jen picked up the phone and told Jack the news. After she hung up, she reported back to Pacey and Joey. "Jack says congrats! He gives his support and says he'll help if you need it too." Jen told them. Pacey smiled.

"It's nice to know that we have such great friends." Pacey said to Jen. "It really helps." Joey nodded, confirming Pacey's words. It did help to have people who cared so much.

"So, what's next?" Jen asked. She had so many questions that she just wanted to shoot out, but she held back, asking one at a time.

"Well, we have a doctor's appointment for tomorrow, and after that, I guess we just take it one day at a time and wait." Joey said. She thought about the appointment. Despite the fact that she still worried about her future, Joey had focused all of her attention on wondering what the baby would be like. 

"Well, we should probably be going." Pacey said. He was anxious to have some alone time with Joey to discuss everything that was to come.

"Alright, see you guys later. Congratulations again!" Jen called out. She watched as Pacey and Joey stood up, linked hands, and walked through the door.

As they left, Joey kept thinking about how great Jen had been. Wether she knew it or not, Jen had lifted the couple's spirts, left them feeling happy, and giving them a sense of safety and love. Even though Dawson had had trouble adjusting, Joey believed that in time, he would come around. Joey sighed, leaning her head down against Pacey's shoulder.

Pacey wrapped his arm around Joey's waist, thinking about everything. He was glad that Joey was doing better since their fight. It seemed to him as though she had really grown since then. She had gone from a hysterical wreck, to a woman with pride and confidence. Knowing this made Pacey know that the two of them were ready for anything. They were going to be fine.


End file.
